A man from Northern Ireland has been handed a 90-hour community payback order and 15-year ban on owning or keeping animals following a Scottish SPCA investigation.
Stephen McCrea, 27, of Willowvale Gardens, Belfast was found guilty of failing to provide veterinary care which resulted in the unnecessary suffering of six puppies under Section 19 (2) (a) & (b) of the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006.
Our special investigation unit was alerted to Stephen McCrea by Police Scotland examining officers at Cairnryan Ferry Port on 3 December 2020. During routine searches of vehicles entering Scotland from Northern Ireland, they found six collie type pups in the back of McCrea’s van after noticing a strong, pungent smell of urine emanating from the driver’s window.
The puppies were in the back of McCrea’s transit van inside a cage. It was strewn with faeces and urine and the puppies appeared to be underweight and lethargic.
Our special investigations unit inspectors attended and took the puppies for immediate veterinary attention. All six of the pups were found not to have been vaccinated which led to them contracting the life-threatening disease parvovirus. This resulted in three of the puppies being put to sleep on welfare grounds.
An undercover inspector from the Scottish SPCA’s special investigations unit said: “The trade in puppies coming over from Northern Ireland to be sold in Scotland is at a worrying level.
“We believe McCrea to be connected to the low-welfare puppy trade in Ireland. Puppies are smuggled in to the country, normally by ferry, and sold on for huge profit. The motivation is profit and no thought is given to animal welfare.
“It was clear all of these puppies needed to see a vet as they were all showing symptoms of parvovirus such as diarrhoea with blood and all were lethargic and underweight.
“Despite expert treatment from our vets, three of the puppies’ health deteriorated and the sad decision was made to euthanise them on welfare grounds. The other three puppies responded to treatment and were taken to one of our animal rescue and rehoming centres.
“We will continue to do all we can to stop the low-welfare puppy trade and those smuggling puppies in to the country. We lead Operation Delphin, a multi-agency taskforce set up to disrupt the industry.”
Operation Delphin is supported by Dumfries & Galloway Council, ISPCA, RSPCA, USPCA, DSPCA, Stena Line, Police Scotland and others.
Disrupting the multimillion pound industry is one of the Society’s main priorities, and its #SayNoToPuppyDealers campaign has received widespread public and cross-party political support. The Scottish SPCA aims to eliminate the low welfare puppy trade by 2032.
Anyone with concerns about an animal can contact the Scottish SPCA’s animal helpline in confidence. The number is 03000 999 999.
